The Covenantal Structure of the Bible - Ralph Allan Smith
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
The Covenantal Structure
of the Bible
Ralph Allan SmithThe Covenantal Structure of the Bible (revised version) ©2006 Ralph Allan Smith Covenant Worldview Institute Tokyo, Japan info@berith.org This book may freely be copied and distributed under the conditions that the content is not altered and credit is given to the author.
Table of Contents Chapter One: The Central Theme of the Bible 1 Chapter Two: What is a Covenant (Part 1) 4 Chapter Three: What is a Covenant (Part 2) 7 Chapter Four: The History of the Covenants (Part 1) 10 Chapter Five: The History of the Covenants (Part 2) 14 Chapter Six: The Edenic Covenant 18 Chapter Seven: The Post Fall Promise 22 Chapter Eight: The Noahic Covenant 26 Chapter Nine: The Abrahamic Covenant 30 Chapter Ten: The Mosaic Covenant 33 Chapter Eleven: The Davidic Covenant 37 Chapter Twelve: The Restoration Covenant 41 Chapter Thirteen: The New Covenant 46
The Central Theme of the Bible
Chapter One
What is the central theme of the Bible? To answer this question, we must consider one
that is more fundamental: Does the Bible have a central theme? If the Bible is one book, it is
apparent that the answer must be yes. Certainly, this is the answer that has been given by
Christian people from every land, language, and culture who, for almost 2000 years, have
confessed that the Bible is a unified revelation from God.
More importantly, the Bible itself confirms this testimony. Although written by over 40
different authors over a period of about 1500 years, the Bible presents an integrated worldview in
its doctrines of God, man, law, history, and salvation. The harmony of the Biblical teaching is
all the more wonderful since it represents an organic growth of revelation in the historical
outworking of God’s covenant relationship with His people from the original creation to the end
of the world.
Christians from all ages have confessed the unity of the Biblical message, but they have
not all found the unity of the Bible in the same themes. They do not all agree which theme is
central. Some, for example, have suggested the idea of redemption. Now the Biblical story
surely is the unfolding of a redemptive drama. The Bible tells us how man fell into sin and how
God in His grace saved man (Gen. 3:1-15). It tells us of God’s great love for sinful men and the
death of Jesus to redeem man (John 3:16). The Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit was sent
into the world to apply Jesus’ redemptive work (Rom. 8:1-14). At the climax of history, we will
see the world redeemed and the full manifestation of God’s glory (1 Cor. 15:22-28).
Thus, redemption is surely one of the grand themes of the Bible. But, redemption does not
seem to be a broad enough theme to include all major themes. To be specific it does not seem
broad enough to include topics like creation, which occurs before there is any need for
redemption and seems to be more important in the Bible than just background information for
redemption. It would be difficult with a central theme as narrow as redemption to find a proper
place for other themes such as angels, Satan, fallen angels, hell, and so on. As important as
redemption is to the Biblical story, it does not seem to be the true organizing center of the Bible.
Others have suggested that the central theme of the Bible is Christ Himself. This must be
true in some sense for Christ is the Creator of the world and the Word of God incarnate (John
1:1-3). From the fall to the consummation of redemption, the Biblical message centers on the
person of Christ as the Savior of the world. He is prefigured in types and predicted in prophecy
(Luk. 24:25-27). Whatever answer one gives to the question of the main theme of the Bible,
Christ must be a part of the answer. But in what sense should we think of Christ as the center?
Many Bible teachers believe the covenant is the most important theme in the Bible. Again,
the covenant is definitely a main theme. The Bible tells the story of God’s covenants with Adam
and Christ (Rom. 5:12 ff.). It tells us how Adam broke the covenant and brought the human
race, which he represented, into sin and judgment. To Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, God
bestowed covenantal promises that represented a renewal of the covenant with Adam and the
promise of a better covenant to come. That better covenant, of course, is the new covenant in
Christ. He came into the world to be our new representative, to succeed where Adam had failed.
-1–The Central Theme of the Bible
By His death on the cross, He redeemed us from sin and judgment — the Adamic curse. In His
resurrection, we receive life. Thus, from creation to redemption, the whole Biblical message is
covenantal.
Like redemption, the covenant is definitely a unifying theme of the Bible, but it also seems
to be inadequate to bring together the full range of Biblical revelation. By itself, the notion of
covenant tends to be abstract and difficult to define. What we need is a theme that is broad
enough to embrace every major Biblical idea, a theme that includes redemption, gives proper
honor to Christ as the Creator and Savior, and also does justice to the centrality of the covenant.
Such a theme is the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, all of the other suggested
major themes are included and given proper place. In addition, the kingdom of God includes
other themes important for our understanding of the Bible, such as creation, the Biblical teaching
about angels and demons, the doctrine of final judgment and everlasting punishment. Christ
Himself remains a central theme of the Bible because as the King, He is the center of the
kingdom, its very essence. Redemption as a central theme is the unfolding drama of God’s
restoring the kingdom to its original purpose.
Also, the theme of the covenant finds its proper place when we recognize that the covenant
is the constitution of the kingdom, the definition of the Heavenly King’s relationship to His
people. In the Biblical story, kingdom and covenant are almost synonymous and at least
mutually dependent conceptions. The covenant defines and establishes the kingdom; the
kingdom in its essence is an extended covenantal relationship.
Genesis begins with the creation of the kingdom of God and the rebellion of man under
Satan. The rest of the Bible tells how God restores the kingdom to Himself and brings man back
into the position of kingdom glory that God originally designed for him. History is the story of
God’s war against Satan. God defeats Satan and reconstructs His kingdom through Christ,
bringing to pass His original purpose for the creation.
The Gospel that Christ preached was the Gospel of the kingdom of God: “And Jesus went
about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (Mt. 4:23; cf. 9:35;
4:17; 5:3, 10; 6:33; 10:7; 12:28; 13:11ff.; 16:19, 28; 18:3-4; 19:14; 21:43; 24:14; 25:34). Paul,
the great apostle, preached the message of the kingdom: “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his
own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and
teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man
forbidding him” (Ac. 28:30-31; cf. 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23). The last book in the Bible
celebrates the everlasting establishment of God’s kingdom: “And the seventh angel sounded;
and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15; cf.
1:9; 12:10). The last chapters of the book of Revelation describe the new Jerusalem, the
heavenly city, the fulfillment of God’s purpose for the creation and the final manifestation of the
kingdom of God (Rev. 21-22).
Christ as the head of the new covenant brings in the kingdom of God, fulfilling the
promises made to Abraham and David, accomplishing all that God had designed for man in the
original creation. Satan’s attempt to destroy the kingdom is defeated by the Messiah who saves
the world and establishes the everlasting kingdom.
Thus, the covenantal kingdom of God is the central theme of Biblical revelation. All the
other suggested central themes find their proper place within this theme, for the covenant is the
-2-The Central Theme of the Bible
constitution of the kingdom, Christ is the king, and redemption is God’s work of restoring the
kingdom so that man as God’s viceregent may fulfill his original purpose.
-3-What is a Covenant? (Part 1)
Chapter Two
When we say that the kingdom of God is a covenantal kingdom, we refer to the fact that
the covenant defines God’s relationship with man and therefore, the covenant is the
“constitution” of the kingdom. But, we must consider more specifically what a covenant is. To
begin with, we must understand the essence of the covenant, for it is often misunderstood.
Sometimes even Biblical scholars erroneously state that the covenant idea in the Bible is
essentially the same as the idea of a contract. This is not true. Contract and covenant differ in
their very essence. A contract is a conditional relationship established for the mutual benefit of
the contracting parties. A contact is a limited commitment, continuing only so long as the
mutual benefit continues. The covenant is not a contractual type of relationship, limited by the
mutual benefit of the parties involved.
To discern the essence of a covenantal relationship, we need only to consider the book of
Deuteronomy, one of the first books of the Bible and one that emphasizes the covenant.
Deuteronomy shows clearly that the essence of the covenant is love. First, God’s love for His
people is the basis for His calling them. Then, they are urged to respond to Him in love,
expressed by loyalty to the covenant established with God.
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen
you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face
of the earth.
The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in
number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because
the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the
LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of
slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD
your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His
lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His
commandments; but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He
will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. Therefore,
you shall keep the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which I am
commanding you today, to do them.
Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do
them, that the LORD your God will keep with you His covenant and His
lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you
and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your
ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the
young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.
(Deu. 7:6-13)
-4-What is a Covenant (Part One)
In these verses we see that the origin of the covenant is the love of God for Abraham and
his seed. God determined to bless the children of Israel and to make them His own people. He
did not choose them as if He were getting “a good deal.” There is nothing contractual here. In
grace, He determined to love them and to bestow His blessing upon them.
But love requires mutuality. It is a two-way street. So, God demands that the children of
Israel also love Him.
Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deu.
6:4-5)
Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD
your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the LORD’S commandments
and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? (Deu. 10:12-13)
As these verses make clear, a covenant is a commitment of love. Since it creates a
relationship fundamentally different from the mutual profit-seeking relationship of a contract, it
must be established in a different manner. In the Bible, a covenant can only be established and
sealed by an oath, which usually involves an oath-taking ceremony like circumcision (that is, in
ancient Israel, the act of circumcising a child constituted a covenant oath). The oath is so
important in a covenant that the word oath is sometimes used as a synonym for covenant (cf.
Deu. 29:12, 14).
What then is an oath? An oath is a self-maledictory promise. When one takes an oath, he
promises to preserve the covenantal relationship and seals the promise with words that call a
curse upon himself if he should fail to keep his promise. The curse of the covenant is death.
Many Christians may not realize that a curse is part of the traditional Christian wedding
vow. “Till death do us part” means “until death,” but it includes the idea that nothing but death
can end the covenant, implying the curse of death on the one who is disloyal to the oath.
Another aspect of the traditional wedding vow illustrates the type of commitment demanded in a
covenant. For example, we say “in sickness and health,” and “for better or worse,” which
witness to the fact that even if the relationship turns out to be “unprofitable” for us, we will not
abandon our partner because of economic or other adversities. Marital love is self-sacrificial.
There is no basis for dissolving the relationship unless one of those who took the vow betrays it
and undermines the whole relationship. Sickness, poverty, or an unpleasant personality cannot
undo the oath. In marriage, each person takes an oath to give himself or herself sacrificially to
the other, without thought of personal profit.
The wedding illustration is especially appropriate, for God’s relationship with Israel is
compared to the relationship of husband to wife (Ezek. 16). So long as Israel is faithful to the
love of the covenant — and “faithful” here does not mean sinless perfection, but rather repentant
faith and love — God will never leave her or forsake her. His commitment to bless her cannot
be shaken.
But, it is not in God’s relationship with Israel that we see the full meaning of love, for the
Bible does not unfold the full meaning of covenantal love until the advent of Christ. It is in the
relationship between Christ and the Father, that we first see that covenantal love is the eternal
fellowship of Father, Son, and Spirit.
-5-What is a Covenant (Part One)
Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so
that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the
foundation of the world. . . . and I have made Your name known to them, and will
make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in
them. John 17:24-26
In the relationship of Christ and the Father, we understand that John’s words “God is love”
have Trinitarian significance. God is love because the Father, Son, and Spirit share an
everlasting love for one another. Each of the three Persons of the Trinity wholly devotes
Himself to bless and glorify the other (cf. John7:18; 8:50, 54; 11:4; 12:28; 13:31-32; 14:13;
16:14;17:1, 4, 5, 22, 24). God Himself in the fellowship of Trinitarian love is the ultimate
kingdom, and the relationship between the Persons of the Trinity is the true covenant.
This has profound significance for the Biblical story of creation and redemption. God
created the world as His kingdom to manifest His glory (cf. Psa. 8, 19). Since the three Persons
of the Trinity constitute a covenantal kingdom of love, the created world, too, is a covenantal
kingdom over which God set Adam and Eve to rule. Their rule was to be based upon love for
God and one another. They were to guard the created world and take care of it so that it would
bear fruit for God’s glory (Gen. 2:15). The fall of man was a rejection of God’s love and a
rejection of the way of love among men. The violence of the pre-flood world is the climax of the
rebellion of the fall and the logical outcome of the rejection of God’s love.
Redemption means the restoration of the covenantal purpose of God. Man is restored to
his original calling as God’s image, which means man is called back into the fellowship of the
covenantal love of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The created world, too, must be restored to its
original purpose of revealing God’s glory through the covenantal stewardship of God’s image.
The kingdom of righteousness and love must come to historical realization in order that Satan’s
lie and the temptation in the Garden may be utterly defeated to the glory of God. Redemption
finds its fulfillment in the kingdom of God. God has poured out His covenantal love upon us in
Jesus Christ in order that through faith in Him we may be re-created as His children and brought
into an everlasting fellowship of love.
The Bible is the story of God’s covenantal kingdom — its creation, its corruption by sin
and folly, and God’s gracious redemption of that kingdom to the praise of the glory of His grace.
The central theme of the Bible, the covenantal kingdom of God, reveals the nature of the Triune
God as a God of love who has called man into a fellowship of love with Himself.
-6-What is a Covenant? (Part 2)
Chapter Three
The essence of God’s covenant is love, but the idea of a covenant also implies a formal
relationship. The mutual commitment of a love relationship is sometimes expressed in a legal
form that makes the obligations of love explicit. A covenant is such a formal love commitment.
Again, the analogy of marriage is helpful. The fact that a wedding vow is a legal
ceremony does not detract from the love which it expresses. On the contrary, if a man professes
to love a woman, but he refuses to assume legal obligations, the reality of his love is dubious at
best. God’s love for man is expressed in the legal form of a covenant in which God takes
obligations upon Himself and calls man to be loyal to the covenant. The covenant, therefore, has
a clear structure and may be expressed in formal legal language. The book of Deuteronomy, the
book of covenant love, provides us with our understanding of the covenant. The whole book is a
covenantal document, structured in terms of a five-point outline that is used throughout the Bible
to define the covenant. Ray Sutton explains the outline of Deuteronomy as follows.
Transcendence (Deut. 1:1-5). The covenant begins with an acknowledgment of
God’s absolute Lordship. He grants the covenant. He is the absolute King.
Hierarchy (Deut. 1:6-4:49). In this section of Deuteronomy, Moses describes the
history of Israel in terms of God’s leading and blessing. God gave Israel leaders,
covenantal representatives. When Israel was faithful to God, she obeyed her leaders.
Ethics (Deut. 5-26). The central section of the covenant defines how God’s people
are to live so that they can be His holy nation. God’s relationship with His people is
an ethical relationship. They must be righteous to enjoy the blessings of the
covenant.
Oath (Deut. 27-30). The covenant promises blessings for those who obey the law
and curses for those who rebel. When God’s people take the oath of the covenant,
they call upon God to curse them if they disobey and to bless them if they obey.
Succession (Deut. 31-34). The final section of the covenant concerns the heirs of the
covenantal blessings. God intends for the covenant to continue from generation to
generation in godly families. Training children to follow God and working to pass
the blessing on to the future is essential to true covenantal obedience.1
Of course, the five-point outline is not the only outline of the covenant that has Biblical
validity. James Jordan, in an inductive study of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, suggests that
threefold (Trinity), fourfold (world foundations), fivefold (housebuilding), sixfold (man),
1
Sutton’s original outline did not spell the word THEOS as the outline above, but the points are the same.
See, Ray Sutton, That You May Prosper (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1987).
-7–What is a Covenant (Part 2)
sevenfold (Sabbath), tenfold (law), and twelve-fold (covenant people) organizations of the
covenant material are also possible.2 However, although Jordan does not believe that the
division of the covenant into five parts has any actual priority over other possible outlines, he
shows that a five-point outline is used most frequently by Moses and is not an arbitrary invention
of expositors.3
Also, the ten commandments, according to North,4 Sutton,5 and Jordan,6 are structured as a
twofold repetition of the five point covenant outline.
1. The first commandment, by teaching that God alone is to be worshiped, calls us to
honor the transcendent Creator and Redeemer. By forbidding murder, the sixth
commandment protects the image of the transcendent God.
2. The second commandment and the seventh are related throughout the Bible in the
connection between idolatry and adultery. Both sins are perversions of submission
to the God-ordained order.
The third section of the covenant, ethics, has to do with boundaries, which is also the
point of the eighth commandment: “Thou shalt not steal.” The third commandment
demands that we wear the name of God righteously – a call to obey His law whereby
we show the glory of His name in our lives.
4. The fourth and the ninth commandments are both concerned with sanctions since
the Sabbath is a day of judgment in which man brings his works to God for
evaluation; the command not to bear false witness views us in the courtroom
participating in the judicial process.
5. The fifth and tenth commandments correspond to the fifth part of the covenant,
inheritance/continuity. In the fifth, children, the heirs to be, are told how to obtain an
inheritance in the Lord. In the tenth, we are forbidden to covet, a sin that leads to the
destruction of the inheritance in more ways than one.
We have seen that the five-point outline of the covenant is 1) actually the outline of
Deuteronomy, 2) repeatedly used in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and 3) the structural outline for
the ten commandments. Thus, it may be used as a tool for Biblical exegesis and relating the
covenant to the concrete details of daily life. Jordan lists the five points in broad terms that make
the broader implications of each point clear.
2
James B. Jordan, Covenant Sequence in Leviticus and Deuteronomy (Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian
Economics, 1989), pp. 3-6. Jordan also suggests a threefold approach to the covenant in, The Law of the Covenant
(Tyler, Texas: Institute for Christian Economics, 1984), p. 7: “In summary, the covenant has three aspects. There is
a legal bond. There is a personal relationship. There is a structure within the community.” He develops a four point
and a twelve point approach in Through New Eyes, pp. 130-31.
3
Covenant Sequence in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, p. 6, 9-10.
4
Gary North, The Sinai Strategy: Economics and the Ten Commandments (Tyler, Texas: Institute for
Christian Economics, 1986).
5
Op. cit. pp. 214-24.
6
Op. cit. pp. 10-13.
-8–What is a Covenant (Part 2)
1. Initiation, announcement, transcendence, life and death, covenantal idolatry.
2. Restructuring, order, hierarchy, liturgical idolatry, protection of the bride.
3. Distribution of a grant, incorporation, property, law in general as maintenance of
the grant.
4. Implementation, blessings and curses, witnesses, Sabbath judgments.
5. Succession, artistic enhancements, respect for stewards, covetousness.7
We will use this five-point outline of the covenant to help analyze the various covenants in
the Bible so that we may obtain a detailed understanding of each covenantal era. While the
general structure of the covenant is the same, covenant revelation grows over time. To see the
implications of the covenant for each era and observe the growth of the covenant, it is helpful to
consider each point in every Biblical covenant.
As we shall see, the first point, the Lordship of the Triune God, is essentially the same in
each covenant. However, God reveals Himself in each covenant in different ways so that His
people come to a deeper understanding of Him. The second point concerns the representative
system established on earth. In each age there are representatives in church, state, and family
who are God-appointed leaders for His people, but the details of the system change in different
ages. The third point covers the detailed commands for daily life that God gives to His people.
These, too, vary from age to age, though the heart of the righteous demand of the law of God is
unchanging. Righteousness always means love, and the specific obligations of love are defined
by the nature of the personal relationship, for example, father-child, husband-wife, brother-
brother, etc. The fourth point, blessings and curses, varies, depending on the actual situation of
the people of God. Also, the fourth point deals with covenantal ceremonies, our renewal of the
covenant oath, the details of which change a great deal from covenant to covenant. The fifth
point which deals with inheritance, varies with the second and fourth points in accordance with
the covenantal situation of the people of God. Before we consider each covenant era in detail, it
is important to grasp of the overall covenantal structure of the Bible.
7
Covenant Sequence in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, p. 14.
-9–The History of the Covenants (Part 1)
Chapter Four
The doctrine of the covenant structures the Biblical story. In the beginning, God created
man and the whole world in a covenant relationship with Himself, placing Adam in the Garden
of Eden, the sanctuary of the world. There, Adam was to enjoy God’s highest covenant blessing,
fellowship with God Himself. But, Adam broke the covenant on the very first Sabbath day. This
could have been the end of the story, but God is a God of grace. He renewed His covenant with
man and promised to establish a wholly new covenant through a new Adam (Gen. 3:15). The
promised Savior would be the Head of a new humanity that would fulfill the purpose of God in
creating the world as His kingdom (cf. Rom. 5:12-25).
When we read Genesis 1-3, we see how man rebelled against God, but the word
“covenant” is not actually used in these chapters. How, then, do we know that Adam’s
relationship with God was covenantal? We understand that the original relationship was a
covenant because we see all the elements of the covenant in the narrative and because Hosea
explicitly refers to this arrangement as a covenant (Hos. 6:71). Furthermore, when the word
covenant is first used in the Bible in Genesis 6:18 and 9:9-17, the repetition of the same language
that occurs in the first chapters of Genesis clearly indicates that the covenant with Noah is a
redemptive renewal of the original covenant with Adam.
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every
beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the
earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every
moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given
you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not
eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast
will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I
require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be
shed: for in the image of God made he man. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply;
bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. (Gen. 9:1-7; cf. Gen.
1:26-28)
The original covenant with Adam is the basic covenant for the entire era that begins with
the creation and lasts until the incarnation of Christ. Paul points to this when he explains the
whole history of the world in terms of two men, Adam and Christ (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:22-
49). Adam was the head of the old covenant. Christ is the Head of the new covenant. Adam
was the viceregent of God who failed and led his sons into sin (Rom. 5:12). Christ is the
viceregent of God who kept God’s covenant and won the blessing, both for Himself and for His
seed (Rom. 5:19; cf. Isa. 53:10-12).
1
The correct translation of Hosea 6:7a is: “But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant . . .” See,
Benjamin B. Warfield, “Hosea VI.7: Adam or Man?” in Shorter Collected Writings, vol. 1, pp. 116 ff.
- 10 -The History of the Covenants (Part 1)
The Bible records six additional covenants from the time of Adam’s fall until the advent of
Christ. These covenants are secondary — renewals and extensions of the covenant with Adam,
each of which underscores a particular aspect of man’s responsibility as God’s image. In the
Garden, Adam was a priest whose responsibility was to guard the Garden and his wife Eve (Gen.
1:15-25). He was also a king who was given dominion over the world (Gen. 1:26-28). And he
was a prophet to whom God spoke (Gen. 1:16-17). But, Adam was also immature, which is
what is symbolized by the nakedness of Adam and Eve at creation. Because of Adam’s fall, the
progress of the covenant after him is based upon God’s redeeming grace. Despite man’s sin,
God works in history to reveal Himself through His covenant love. In redemptive grace, God
leads man from immaturity in the Garden through a covenantal process of growth, leading to
maturation in Christ.
The six “sub-covenants” in the old covenant era develop in two cycles from priestly to
kingly to prophetic. These “sub-covenants” are new versions of the original Adamic covenant,
rather than entirely new or independent covenants. Each of these covenants renews the Adamic
covenant and adds a promise of redemption, a promise that develops and grows from covenant to
covenant. Though these covenants do not bring in a “new creation,” they do significantly change
God’s administration of men’s affairs in the Adamic world-system. They guide history toward
Christ, until He comes to consummate all the promises of salvation (2 Cor. 1:20). They show the
historical progress of God’s purpose for creation. Satan tempted man to sin and ruined man as
God’s viceregent, but in Christ and by grace God restored man, so that he can work in history by
the power of the Holy Spirit to bring in the kingdom of God.
The First Priestly Covenant: the Adamic Covenant
The first of these post-fall covenants is not explicitly called a covenant in the text of
Scripture. Like the original covenant with Adam, it must be inferred from the context. After the
sin of Adam and Eve, God appeared in the Garden and confronted them for their rebellion, but
He did not institute the curse of the covenant in its fullness. Judicial, physical, and covenantal
death were imposed, but God also granted time and a promise of salvation. Adam and Eve died
covenantally, for they were cast out of the Garden, away from God. Grace appears, however, in
the fact that they were apparently allowed to offer sacrifices near the Garden (cf. Gen. 4:3).
They also began to die physically, but by the grace of God they were allowed to live long enough
to have descendants. The seed of the woman, God had promised, would bring salvation (Gen.
3:15).
The grace of God is also seen in that God made coats of skins and clothed them (Gen.
3:21). The animal skins point to the fact that Adam and Eve died judicially through their
covenantal representatives, the slain animals. This established the sacrificial system of the old
covenant that prevails until Christ. We do not know the details of the covenantal arrangements
at this time, but it does seem to be clear that Cain and Abel knew that they were to offer animal
sacrifices. Genesis explicitly says that God did not accept Cain nor his bloodless offering, while
He did accept Abel and his offering (Gen. 4:4:4-5; cf. Heb. 11:4). Noah also understood the idea
of animal sacrifice and even distinguished between clean and unclean animals (Gen. 7:1-2).
The first covenant emphasized man’s priestly responsibility, for Adam’s primary work in
the beginning was to guard the Garden (Gen. 2:15). Satan’s attack against Eve tested Adam as a
- 11 –The History of the Covenants (Part 1)
priest and guardian. Adam failed. But, even after Adam was cast out of the Garden, his sons
continued to have priestly responsibility. Cain and his seed rejected their calling. By contrast,
the family of Seth was characterized by its worship of God (Gen. 4:26). However, even the
godly line of Seth apostatized by marrying unbelieving women and forsaking the worship of the
true God (Gen. 6:1-5).
This first covenant era ended with the flood. God brought covenantal judgment against a
world of men who, except Noah and his family, had all become like Cain and Lamech.
However, as in the beginning, when God brought judgment, He also graciously granted a new
covenant.
The First Kingly Covenant: the Noahic Covenant
The covenant with Noah is the second covenantal renewal of the Adamic world after the
fall. What is new in this covenantal arrangement is that man is given the responsibility to act as
a judge (Gen. 9:5-6), something not permitted earlier when Cain murdered Abel (Gen. 4:15).
This covenant emphasizes man’s responsibility as king. It is not that priestly duties are absent.
But for the first time in history man is required to administer capital punishment for murder.
This is a blessing for human society and indicates historical growth. However, this covenantal
era also ends in abuse, and in precisely the same area in which man was blessed: the authority to
govern. Man attempted to raise his throne as high as heaven through the tower of Babel (Gen.
11:1ff.). God judged man’s sin by destroying the tower and dispersing men throughout the
world.
The First Prophetic Covenant: the Abrahamic Covenant
Again, after judgment, God graciously renewed His covenant with man. God worked in
history to fulfill the promise of salvation and rebuild the kingdom that Satan was trying to ruin
by tempting man to rebel. God elected Abraham and established the seed of Abraham as His
covenantal priestly people. From this point in history until the coming of the new covenant, men
must approach God through the people of Abraham — “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22b).
The Adamic world continues, but it has been significantly changed. What was merely implicit in
the covenants with Adam and Noah is made explicit for the first time. To Abraham is given the
vision of a world redeemed from sin and restored unto God: “in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3b; cf. Gen. 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14).
The prospect of global blessing is the characteristic of the prophetic period. Again, this
does not mean that Abraham is not a priest or a king. We see that he offers sacrifices, leads an
army, and is promised dominion over the nations and kings to come from his loins (Gen. 22:3ff.;
14:13ff.; 17:5-6). But, the office of prophet receives more emphasis. In fact, Abraham is the
first man in the Bible to be called a prophet: “he is a prophet” (Gen. 20:7). The prophetic
blessings of Isaac and Jacob are prominent features of the Genesis story. The patriarch Joseph
was a man of prophetic wisdom who brings the blessings of Abraham to the Egyptians.
Like sinful men before them, the seed of Abraham broke the covenant and became
idolatrous in Egypt (Josh. 24:14). Therefore, God brought covenantal judgment upon His
- 12 –The History of the Covenants (Part 1)
people, and they were sold into slavery under Pharaoh. When they cried out to God, He
graciously heard their prayers and delivered them through Moses and Aaron.
- 13 –The History of the Covenants (Part 2)
Chapter Five
The Second Priestly Covenant: the Mosaic Covenant
Although the Hebrews, like Adam, had rebelled against God’s covenant by committing
idolatry in Egypt, God graciously sought His wayward people and granted a new covenant. The
covenant given through Moses was considerably more advanced than any covenant until that
time. In part, this was because the people of God had grown to be a nation. They needed a
fuller, more detailed statement of the covenant, for the promise to Abraham that his seed would
be as the stars of heaven was being fulfilled (Deu. 1:10; 10:22; cf. Heb. 11:12).
The Mosaic covenant gave Israel not only the promise of salvation, expressed in detail
through the sacrificial system, it also provided a statement of God’s commandments and statutes.
The law included instruction in wisdom for civil government, something that would be necessary
in the new land.
However, it would be wrong to think of the theocratic civil law as being the primary
feature of the Mosaic covenant. Clearly it is not. More space and concern is devoted to the
tabernacle, the laws of cleanliness, the sacrificial system, and the festival calendar than to civil
laws. Also, what we see as “civil laws” contain much that is priestly in character. Man’s kingly
and prophetic responsibilities have been revealed in past covenants, so all three aspects of man’s
work as God’s image appear in the law of Moses. But the priestly element is prominent. Above
all else, the Mosaic covenant centers on the gift of the tabernacle — God’s dwelling place among
the people of Israel. For the first time in the post-flood history, God’s dwelling place with men
was reestablished. Man, represented by the high priest, was again permitted to enter God’s
presence.
The nation of Israel, however, was never really faithful to the Mosaic covenant. In the
days of Joshua they kept the law of the Lord, but after Joshua’s death, they repeatedly wandered
away from God’s commandments, as the books of Judges and 1 Samuel show. Their failure to
keep the covenant was especially a failure to worship the true God in accordance with His
commands. This is seen in the final judgment in this era which came after the priest Eli and his
sons defiled the worship of God in the extreme (1 Sam. 2:22-36; 3:11-14.)
Covenantal judgment, however, came in a merciful form. In the case of earlier apostasies,
God repeatedly handed the Israelites over to their enemies, who oppressed them until they
repented of their sinful idolatry (cf. Judg. 2:1-23). This time, however, God Himself,
symbolically speaking, went into captivity to the Philistines when the ark of the covenant was
taken in battle (1 Sam. 4ff.). Not until a new covenant was given did the ark of God return to its
proper place.
- 14 -The History of the Covenants (Part 2)
The Second Kingly Covenant: the Davidic Covenant
Israel’s leader Saul was a transitional figure and a transparent failure. His reign was the
end of the older covenant and the preparation for a newer one. The era of the Mosaic covenant
came to a full end when God brought in a new covenantal leader, David, and a new covenant,
which included the Davidic promise of the Messiah (2 Sam. 7). The Monarchial era also brought
in a more glorious form of worship, the temple. Solomon became the greatest king of the old
covenant era, the greatest “Adam” since the original man of the Garden. But like his first father,
Solomon fell. He broke all three Mosaic prohibitions for monarchs building an aggressive
military, marrying many wives, and taxing oppressively (Deu. 17:16-17). No doubt Solomon
also forgot the commandment for the king to write his own copy of the law and read it daily
(Deu. 17:18-20). All of this combined to lead Solomon to commit in deed what he had already
committed in his heart: idolatry (1 Kg. 11:10). As a result of Solomon’s sin, the kingdom was
divided into north and south (1 Kg. 11:11ff.; 12:22-25).
The northern kingdom did not even have a single godly leader. From the beginning, every
king was idolatrous and disobedient to God (1 Kg. 12:26-33; 15:34; 16:2-3; 16:18-19, 25-26, 31;
22:51-52; 2 Kg. 3:1-3; 10:29, 31; 13:1-2, 10-11; 14:23-24; 15:8-9, 17-18, 23-24, 27-28; 17:20-
23). Eventually, the vast majority of the godly people in the northern kingdom migrated to Judah
so that all twelve tribes were preserved in her (2 Chr. 11:13-17; 15:8-9; 30:1-11, 18). About 720
B.C., the apostate northern kingdom was carried into captivity to become slaves in a new Egypt,
Assyria (2 Kg. 17:5-6; 18:9-12).
Like her northern sister, Judah gradually departed from the covenant, and was carried away
into captivity (2 Kg. 24:1-5; 25:1-21; 2 Chr. 36:6, 15-21). The descendents of Abraham were
back where they started slavery in a foreign land. But just as God never really forsook them
in Egypt, so also in Babylon, God was with them. And when they repented, God heard their
prayers and after seventy years, He delivered them and restored them to the land (Dan. 9:1-27; 2
Chr. 36:22-23; Ezr. 1:1-4).
The Second Prophetic Covenant: the Restoration Covenant
For the last time in the old covenant era God granted a renewal of the Adamic covenant
that postponed final judgment and expanded the promise of salvation. This restoration covenant
prevailed until the coming of Christ. God had promised the Israelites that they would come back
into the land after 70 years of captivity (cf. Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10). At that time He would make a
new covenant with them (Ezek. 37:21-28). The new covenant of the restoration era was
inaugurated by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (cf. Ezr. 5:1). As with other new covenants,
there was a new house of God (Ezr. 1:3; 3:1ff.; 5:1ff.) and a new priesthood (Ezr. 2:62-63; 3:8-
10; 6:18, 20; 7:11ff.). The temple vision seen by Ezekiel (40-48) taught the people of God that
there was a heavenly temple of great glory that the earthly temple merely symbolized. But for
the first time in her history, this heavenly temple had been opened, so to speak, for all to see.
The children of Abraham also were given a new name. From this time forth, they were called
Jews.
There were other changes in the administration of God’s covenant. For example, the land
of Israel could not be restored to the families according to the allotments in the days of Joshua
- 15 -The History of the Covenants (Part 2)
(Josh. 11:23; 13;1ff.; 15:20ff.), nor would there be a king in Israel anymore. Daniel had
instructed the Jews that they would be under the dominion of Gentile kings until the coming of
the Messiah (Dan. 2; 7). All this meant that many details of the law of Moses could no longer be
literally applied, though even the statutes and precepts that could not be literally applied would
provide wisdom for the elders of the towns.
As in the first prophetic period, the work of evangelism among the nations of the world
was especially prominent. Two entire books are devoted to ministry to the Gentiles: Jonah
(actually written at the end of the Davidic period) and Esther. Ezra and Nehemiah too share an
international perspective that is significantly different from the times of the kings. The prophetic
books of this period — Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi look for the establishment of God’s
global kingdom through Israel’s witness (cf. Hg. 2:5-7; 2:21-23; Zech. 2:11; 4:12ff.; 8:22-23;
Mal. 4:2).
The New Covenant: Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King
Including the pre-fall Adamic covenant era, there are seven covenantal eras in the old
covenant. In all of these, certain common features obtain. All seven of these covenants deal
with “the world of Adam,” the first creation. But the coming of Christ brings a wholly new
covenant — a new world. “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2
Cor. 5:17b).
Jesus, the New Adam, fulfills the righteous requirements of God’s covenant and brings the
blessings of the covenant to a new humanity. There is no more need for animal sacrifices
because His sacrifice solved the problem of sin once and for all (Heb. 10:1-14). The world itself,
which was “made subject to vanity” because of Adam’s sin (Rom. 8:20), was reconciled to God
by Christ’s atoning work (Col. 1:20) and was restored to its original ceremonial cleanness.
Therefore, there can no longer be unclean lands or holy places. There is also a new human race
to occupy the new world. Every member of this new race is a priest, including women and
Gentiles. All have equal access to the throne of God (Eph. 2:12-22; Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11), for
Christ Himself is the Great High Priest who brings His people unto God, and everyone who is
baptized in Him has been made a son and heir (Gal. 3:26-29).
Now that the world has been redeemed and man has been saved through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ, the new humanity can inherit the glory originally intended by the
heavenly Father. In the person of Christ, a glorified Man sits at the right hand of God, ruling the
world until “He hath put all enemies under his feet” (1 Cor. 15:25; Psa. 110:1; Eph. 1:22; Heb.
1:13). Only then, when the church, His body, shall have conquered all the nations through the
preaching of the Gospel (Mat. 28:18ff.), will Jesus return in glory for the final judgment (1 Cor.
15:23-28). The new race, converted to faith in Christ is not sinless, to be sure, but righteous by
God’s grace and the power of His Spirit. They have been saved in Christ in order to fulfill the
original Adamic commission to subdue all things to the glory of God. The world will be filled
with men, every desert will be turned into a Garden and the potential of the creation will be
developed to the praise of Creator. History can come to an end when Satan is wholly defeated,
man truly saved, and God glorified both as Creator and Redeemer.
The kingdom which began in the Garden will be fulfilled and a wholly new era, the ages of
the eternal kingdom, will begin. The new humanity will inherit their resurrection bodies and live
- 16 -The History of the Covenants (Part 2)
with God in everlasting glory. When the covenants of creation and redemption are fulfilled, man
will be glorified with Christ in the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21-22), but this is not the end. It is the
beginning of something new, something more glorious and wonderful than we can imagine.
- 17 -The Edenic Covenant
Chapter Six
The pre-fall covenant with Adam governs the entire era from the creation until the coming
of Christ. The new covenant in Christ is a fulfillment rather than a replacement of the original
covenant. In other words, the entire Biblical story of the growth of God’s kingdom is grounded
in the Edenic covenant given in Genesis 1-3. This means that we must understand these chapters
properly to be able to understand the rest of Scripture. To begin our study, we will first consider
the condition of the kingdom at the time of creation, the five points of the covenant in the Edenic
Covenant, man’s response to the covenant and God’s judgment.
The Kingdom
God created the world in six days. Why six days? Because His work in creation was to set
a pattern for man to follow — work six days, rest one day (Ex. 20:9-11). Furthermore, man’s
work was to be the continuation of God’s work. The world was dark, formless, and empty at the
beginning (Gen. 1:2). For six days God worked to give the world light, form, and living things.
The crown of His creation was man, who was commissioned to continue the work that God had
begun (Gen. 1:26-28).
When God created man, He first created Adam, the head of the race. Then, God created
Adam’s home, the Garden of Eden, while Adam watched (Gen. 2:8), giving Adam an example of
how he was to work. The Garden was organized with two special trees in the center, a wall
around it, and a gate in front1. Man was allowed to eat freely from every tree in the Garden,
except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17). Man had two basic
responsibilities: to guard the Garden, and to till it so that it would bring forth more fruit (Gen.
2:15).
God trained Adam for family life by bringing all the animals before him and having Adam
name them (Gen. 2:19-20). Naming the animals meant more than pronouncing a sound; it meant
assigning a “label” to each animal that appropriately described it. Adam learned about each
animal and understood something of its meaning and purpose in the kingdom of God. He saw
that the animals resembled man in many ways but that there was also an immeasurable bio-
cultural gap between man and the animals. Adam realized that all the animals had mates, but he
was alone. Adam was ready to be given a wife that he would cherish. His unspoken prayer was
answered and God gave him Eve (Gen. 2:21-23).
The world Adam and Eve ruled was divided into three parts. 1) The Garden of Eden, their
home, was a mountaintop sanctuary where they met with God directly. 2) The land of Eden was
the land of the sanctuary, close to God. 3) The rest of the world was farther away from the Holy
Place where God manifested Himself. There was another threefold division of the world. 1) The
1
We are not specifically told of a wall or gate, but when the Bible says that Adam and Eve were cast out of
the Garden and that God stationed cherubim at the East of the Garden so that they could not return, a wall and a gate
of some sort seem to be presupposed.
- 18 -The Edenic Covenant
heavens were above them, ruled by the sun in the day and the moon and stars at night (Gen.
1:14-18). 2) The land was their home. 3) The great ocean was underneath them. This is the
source of the symbolism of the world as a threefold structure, later reflected in the tabernacle and
the temple.
The Covenant
The five points of the covenant are not presented in simple covenantal order, but they all
appear in the text.
1. The entire passage (Gen. 1-3) demonstrates the absolute Lordship of God who creates
all things according to His will and plan. God’s sovereignty in creation is especially seen in that
all things are created by His Word. The tenfold speaking of God in the creation story (Gen. 1:3,
6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29) corresponds to the tenfold Word of God in the Mosaic covenant,
the Ten Commandments. There is even a hint of the Trinity in the creation of Adam and Eve,
both in the divine counsel — “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Gen. 1:26) —
and in the very fact that human society is God’s image, no less than the human individual.
2. Adam is the lord of creation under God. He is the original king of the world and, with
his queen, has dominion over all creation (Gen. 1:28). Adam is also the original priest and
prophet, since God speaks to Adam, who then teaches his wife the word of God (Gen. 2:16-18).
His priestly responsibility is seen in the command to guard the Garden sanctuary (Gen. 2:15), for
priests in later times were the guardians of the temple. His responsibility as the first husband and
father included farming the Garden (Gen. 2:15) and having children to fill the earth for the glory
of God (1:28).
3. In a sense, these responsibilities constituted the commands of the covenant also, but the
ethical heart of the covenant was found in the command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil (Gen. 2:17). As the command was stated, Adam should have inferred that the
prohibition was temporary. For, the emphasis is clearly on God’s gracious provision of all the
trees of the Garden (2:16). The fact that there were two trees in the midst of the Garden with
names (Gen. 2:9), one of which was forbidden, constituted a divine invitation to eat from the
other, the tree of life.
The command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not simply a
command about eating. The real issue was, Would Adam and Eve trust God and obey Him
simply because He is God? To test Adam’s obedience in something he understood to be a matter
of righteousness — murder, for example — would still have been a test. But God gave Adam a
more difficult test. Obedience to the command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil does not have the kind of obvious ethical significance as a command like “Thou shalt
not kill.” If Adam had obeyed God when tested, he would have manifested the faith and love
that is the true heart of obedience. For this reason, God tested Adam on what may seem like an
arbitrary issue.
4. The blessing and curse of the covenant were set forth in the two trees. The tree of life
would bring blessing if Adam and Eve chose it rather than the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil. If they chose the forbidden tree, however, they faced the curse of death. It was as if the
Lord were saying to Adam what Moses later said to Israel: “I call heaven and earth to record this
- 19 -The Edenic Covenant
day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose
life, that both thou and thy seed may live” (Deu. 30:19).
Note that this is not a question of Adam and Eve becoming God’s children through their
righteous deeds. They were already His beloved children, living in His house, eating from His
table. The test in the Garden was a test of perseverance. If Adam had passed the test, he would
have persevered in faith and been blessed. At some point that would have included the blessing
of being allowed to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and receiving robes of
glory, symbolizing the fact that Adam and Eve had been exalted to higher position in the
kingdom of God.
5. Had Adam chosen life, he and his posterity would have inherited the world and Satan
would have been cast out. If Adam had refused Satan’s temptation he would have understood
the true meaning of good and evil, the very thing the tree and the test was supposed to teach him.
In other words, the prohibition of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was pedagogical. If
the lesson had been learned, Adam and Eve would have graduated into a higher status and all
mankind after them would have enjoyed the covenantal blessings they won.
Adam’s Covenantal Response
Satan appeared in the Garden in the form of a serpent. This was allowed by God in order
to test Adam and teach him the essential meaning of good and evil. Merely giving Adam a
lecture on the philosophy of good and evil would not have really furnished Adam with the
understanding he needed. Just as when God wanted to give Adam a wife, He first provided a
project that would be meaningful to him for his whole life, and would, at the same time, teach
Adam of his need for a wife, so also when God wanted to teach him about good and evil, He sent
Satan to test him. This required Adam to guard the Garden from evil. If Adam had successfully
defended the Garden from Satan’s attack, the hard part of his guarding work would have been
over.
When Satan approached Adam and Eve, Adam should have understood from Satan’s
challenge the real meaning of good and evil. Good and evil are not substances or things; rather,
the words good and evil describe our covenantal response to God. For man, to submit to his
Creator is the essence of good and to rebel is the essence of evil, for man’s whole life is defined
in relation to God. Had Adam learned this truth by submission to God’s will, he would have
been confirmed in holiness by eating of the tree of life. We might say that Adam had a choice of
sacraments, the magical sacrament of Satan, which promised power through disobedience to
God, or the covenantal sacrament of God, which promised life and all good things by submission
to Him.
What Adam actually did was more evil than most realize. When Satan addressed Eve,
Adam, who was standing by, said nothing. In other words, he intentionally allowed Eve to be
deceived into eating the fruit in order to see what would happen to her (cf. 1 Tim. 2:14). He set
up his wife as a guinea pig, using her to test God. If she did not die, then he would know it
would be safe for him to eat also. Nothing happened to Eve, so Adam assumed it was safe to eat.
But the fall had already occurred when Adam decided to let Eve eat.
- 20 -The Edenic Covenant
God’s Covenantal Judgment
God appeared in Person to expel Adam and Eve from the Garden. They heard the sound of
God, which was probably like the sound of the glory-cloud (cf. Ex. 19: 16; 20:18; 1 Sam. 22:8-
16; Ezek. 1:4ff., esp. vs. 24), like the sound of thunder. Nothing in Genesis implies a gentle,
soft sound. Adam and Eve, like the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, were terrified by what they
had heard and they hid themselves (Gen. 3:10). God spoke to Adam first because he was the
covenantal leader. He pronounced judgment on the Serpent first as the source of the temptation.
And in that judgment is found the initial promise of salvation, the basis for a new covenant:
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall
bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15).
Adam and Eve died that very day, just as God had said. They died judicially through their
representative, the animal sacrifice offered in their stead which bore the curse of the covenant for
them (Gen. 3:21). This is the beginning of the sacrificial system in the Bible. Judgment
included the promise of life in a new covenant, which would provide a representative who could
truly take away sin.
Being expelled from the Garden was another form of death, for Adam had been created to
have fellowship with God. Cast out of the Garden, Adam and the race of men after him hunger
for the true Garden of God, without really knowing what it is that they are seeking: “Jesus said
unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth
on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
In addition, the processes of physical decay, the gradual “death” of their bodies began that
day. Sickness and pain, fatigue and the sufferings of the body in the aging process were not part
of the original creation. From the day they sinned, Adam and Eve “began to die” physically.
Beyond the physical death they experienced, the whole creation began to experience a kind of
death also. The universe was “subjected to futility” (Rom. 8:20) because of Adam’s sin; the
entire animal and physical world was brought into the “bondage of corruption” (Rom. 8:21).
But in judgment there was also grace. God did not merely annul the original covenant and
destroy the race He created in His image, though it would have been righteous for Him to have
done so. He rendered a form of judgment that included provision for redemption. This involved
two aspects. First, God made provision for the continuation of the old covenant, a postponement
of final judgment, so to speak. Second, God granted man the promise of a new covenant — the
seed of the woman would come and destroy the serpent. Thus, the covenantal situation set up by
God’s judgment of Adam and Eve was a temporary extension of the original covenant that
included a promise of a new and better covenant in the future.
Satan, therefore, was not the victor in the Garden or in history, even though his influence
was and still is great. The promise of the victory of the seed of the woman meant that man
would, by the grace of God, fulfill the commission which was given to him in the Garden. The
kingdom of God with man as king under Him would eventually come to full manifestation in
history. But it would take the death of the seed of the woman to accomplish this. Mankind
needed a new covenantal head to establish the covenantal kingdom in history.
- 21 -You can also read
